The North Wales Economic Ambition Board’s Welsh Language at Work in North Wales recently- released report assesses the current situation of the Welsh language in North Wales, focussing on Welsh in the community, education and the world of work. Here, one of the authors, Katie Edwards, speaks about the report and her work as a researcher.

The North Wales Regional Skills Partnership (RSP) has released a report which reviews the Welsh language situation and makes recommendations about how the region can contribute to the Million speakers by 2050 goal. What are the key recommendations?

We held a consultation on the recommendations at the launch event with a diverse range of organisations from across North Wales who contributed to the report, such as GwE, Menter a Busnes, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, Alun Griffiths (Contractors), Harlech Foodservice, Horizon Nuclear Power, and Ifor Williams Trailers.

The consultation highlighted that there is a clear opportunity for partners and stakeholders from across the region to work together towards the Cymraeg 2050 goal. We need to share examples of good practice in promoting and increasing bilingualism, and the report demonstrates that there are examples of successful initiatives across North Wales.

The Welsh Language at Work in North Wales report focusses on Welsh and bilingualism in education, business and the community. The links between these domains are important; for example a significant number of people lose their Welsh language skills in the transition from school to post-16 education.

One key message in the report is the importance of providing and promoting Welsh-medium and bilingual learning opportunities in post-16 education, to ensure young people can continue to develop their bilingual skills. According to the 2011 Census, 38.9% of 16-19 year olds in North Wales are Welsh speakers.

A key message in the report is highlighting that having and using the Welsh language in the labour market is a Unique Selling Point (USP) in the region and a valuable employability skill. The report has evidence of employers strongly endorsing the value of the Welsh language in the workplace and how it adds value to their business.

How do various providers of Welsh language services such as Mentrau Iaith, the Welsh for Adults Centre, Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol, Coleg Cambria, Glyndŵr University and so on work together to promote the language?

The report highlighted that there are opportunities to work smarter across the various organisations who make great efforts and have very successful initiatives in promoting and developing the Welsh language in the region. The Regional Skills Partnership has recognised that collaboration between the various organisations needs to be facilitated and developed. The RSP is well placed regionally to be able to facilitate discussions that will share good practice and influence communication between education in schools, FE colleges, HE, apprentices, and wider employers and the labour market.

The report is an initial ‘kick-start’ to demonstrate to employers how the Welsh language can benefit their business, but there’s a lot of effort to bring this vision into reality and to get a regional commitment from employers for them all to be up to speed on the USP and added value of the language, especially in the non-traditional Welsh language communities and industries. Promoting and developing the Welsh language is a regional priority for the RSP in our efforts and literature, and we are referring to the language as a valuable employability skill on a par with the other employability skills, such as literacy, numeracy, digital competency, leadership, problem solving, etc.

The last 10 years have unfortunately seen a decline in the number of Welsh speakers, according to the Census data. However, since the last Census there have also been a number of new local and regional initiatives, development opportunities, and political policies and interventions, where we should see a slow but steady increase in the next Census figures. A strong Welsh language education framework is now in place regionally, and there is recognition from employers of its added value in the workplace.

Large employers such as HMP Berwyn in Wrexham, Alun Griffiths (Contractors), Zip World, North Wales Police and Horizon Nuclear Power (and more!) are already demonstrating the priority they’re placing on the Welsh language as a skill in their employment policies, practices and recruitment. Other employers will hear of these good practices and success due to how they are utilising this USP, and will want to follow suit. The RSP will continue to seek out such employers to share good practice and facilitate regional practices to promote further development of the Welsh language. One of the key changes since the last Census is the development of the RSP’s role in bridging the communication gap between employers and education providers, and providing real evidence to influence and complement regional and national policies.

The Skills and Employment workstream of the North Wales Economic Ambition Board (NWEAB) is made up of myself as Assistant Researcher; Ffion Jones, Senior Researcher; and Iwan Thomas, Programme Manager. We are recognised by Welsh Government as one of its three Regional Skills Partnerships in Wales. This involves working with our partners and stakeholders to produce an annual Regional Skills and Employment Plan, which identifies the current and future demand for skills and labour in the region, in which the Welsh language plays an important part.